HBA Newswatch
February 8, 2008
DEVELOPER LEAVES COATESVILLE PROJECT
WELL-KNOWN BUILDER CLAIMS HE CAN’T MAKE MONEY WITHOUT THE FLATS PROPERTY
By JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff Writer
COATESVILLE — Four years ago, a big-city developer with a reputation for snatching up unwanted urban properties and transforming communities planted his flag on a prime piece of real estate in the city’s downtown.
And thus the love affair between Coatesville and Bart Blatstein was sparked.
“The renaissance has begun,” Blatstein declared in January 2004 to the Daily Local News, after acquiring the long-abandoned Coatesville Record building on the 200 block of East Lincoln High from the city’s redevelopment authority for the bargain price of $1.
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GETTING A START ON SUMMER RENTALS
Early Demand Is Strong, but Tenants Can Afford to Be Picky
By CHRISTINA S.N. LEWIS and SARA LIN
With no bottom in sight for the U.S. housing market and recession fears growing, one slice of the real-estate industry is holding surprisingly steady: the summer-rental market.
Landlords and property managers say choice beach- and lakefront rentals are going fast, with reservations for peak summer weeks up 10% or more over last year. Demand is healthiest in expensive resorts like Aspen, Colo., and Malibu, Calif. In Amagansett, on Long Island's East End, rentals are already 50% filled, says Rick Hoffman, regional vice president at Corcoran Group.
But outside the luxury sector, shadows loom. In many popular coastal areas, the inventory of off-water, midpriced rentals has swelled despite brisk demand. Newly constructed vacation homes -- the end of the decade-long building spree -- are on the market and putting pressure on rates. A glut is likely to grow, as more owners who would have flipped homes rely on them longer for rental duty while waiting out the sluggish residential-sales market. Older, smaller properties are being pinched first, as people increasingly vacation with extended families and look for newly built large homes with central air conditioning, hot tubs and other amenities.
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‘LACK OF SUPPORT’ DEMOLISHES ARCWHEELER PROJECT
Daylesford neighbors long opposed the mixed-use proposal
By Dan Kristie
What many residents regarded as the most controversial development proposal in Tredyffrin Township is dead. ARCWheeler, a Philadelphia-based real-estate developer, sent a letter to township officials recently announcing that it was withdrawing plans to build a high-density, mixed residential and commercial development near SEPTA’s Daylesford Train Station.
In the letter, Hal Wheeler, the company’s managing principal, wrote that ARCWheeler was withdrawing plans because of “lack of support.”
Since the summer of 2006, when the developer first unveiled plans for the project, it has met with heavy resistance from the neighbors in the Daylesford area.
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JUDGE REVERSES DECISION ON SUBDIVISION IN SOUTH WAYNE
By Sam Strike
A Delaware County Court of Common Pleas judge has issued an order to reverse a 2006 subdivision approval by the Radnor Township Board of Commissioners.
But, like the history of the proposal for the .8-acre parcel on Lansdowne Avenue in South Wayne, it doesn’t appear to be that simple.
Judge Joseph P. Cronin Jr. also ordered the case remanded back to the township board “to develop a full and complete record… including but not limited to a transcript of testimony and other evidence and exhibits presented at the hearings.”
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WORKSHOP TO HELP HOMEOWNERS COMBAT WATER EROSION
By Rachel Perry
If you’re a local resident, you’re probably all too aware that stormwater is a problem that plagues the area, eroding the soil and carrying pollutants into the water.
But did you know that there are simple things you can do to help protect the environment from stormwater? On Saturday, Feb. 9 from 10 to 11:45 a.m., hear about what you can do at a workshop titled “Rain Gardens and More,” presented by the Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association (CRC), the Habitat Resource Network of Southeast PA and Penn State Brandywine.
The talk, which will be led by two environmentally savvy local presenters, will be held in room 203 of the Penn State Brandywine Commons Athletic Building, at 25 Yearsley Mill Road in Media.
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